Community-Led Sustainable Development in Practice
The Cambrian Mountain Initiative (CMI) was established in 2007–2008 as a pioneering programme to demonstrate best practice in community-led sustainable development in upland rural Wales. From the outset, the initiative was designed to align closely with Welsh Government policy, placing local communities at the centre of long-term economic, environmental, and social resilience.
The first phase of the CMI was a high-profile strategic project supporting communities across six distinct zones of the Cambrian Mountains. Each zone was enabled to develop its own action plan, and tourism strategy—shaped by local priorities and delivered through participatory processes. This phase was designed to start the ball rolling for each zone to continue to undertake the actions they had agreed on whenever funding became available.
The project benefited from strong national leadership and credibility. Its President was HRH The Prince of Wales, and its Chair was the Sustainable Futures Commissioner for Wales, the statutory advisor to Welsh government on sustainable development. Key partners included the relevant county councils and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which also seconded staff to support delivery on the ground.
The second phase was undertaken by consultants appointed by NRW who focused on delivering projects that provided shared benefits across all communities.
One of the overarching aims was to support each community to become an exemplar of best practice of community led sustainable development encouraging other communities across Wales to follow our example.